The recent wet weather may have put a damper on heritage month celebrations, but it certainly did our woodlands and gardens some good - and the Yellow-crowned Night Herons have enjoyed paddling in the car park puddle at Waterville.

We were incredibly fortunate to enjoy a dry and beautiful evening for our Islands, Oceans and all that Jazz fundraising dinner held at the Lido Complex on Saturday 13 May.  Thank you to all who attended and supported the event, and especially to the generous donors of the live and silent auction items. Congratulations and thanks to the wonderful organising committee: Mariette Savoie, Katryn Smith, Robin Mayor, Amanda Outerbridge, Dorte Horsfield and Jordan Smith. The spectacular decor was designed by Nicky Gurret. The proceeds from this very successful fundraiser will support our natural heritage conservation work throughout the year.

Thank you also to those who have so kindly supported our 2023 Annual Appeal. Your donation helps to ensure that BNT can continue to champion the natural and cultural heritage that makes Bermuda special. If you haven’t already given, we hope that you will respond to the letter that will be arriving in your mailbox shortly!

Finally, a reminder that our Annual General Meeting and Awards ceremony will take place at 5:30pm on 15 June at Verdmont. We look forward to seeing some of you there.  

Karen Border

Executive Director

For years now, beachgoers at Somerset Long Bay have had to negotiate broken glass finding its way across the beach because of wave activity and long-shore drift. The wetland area to the east of the main beach, known as Pitman’s Pond or Somerset Long Bay Nature Reserve East, was a historic dumping site. Bottles were dumped in great numbers over the years prior to the start of ecological restoration, back in the 1990s.  

Addressing this issue has been a priority but it took a while to work out a solution and obtain the necessary planning permission. The project is now complete and was made possible with financial support from the Centennial Foundation. The Conservation Management Plan involved re-grading the coastline to an angle of stability that will reduce the likelihood of erosion, installing organic burlap matting to hold the embankment together, and heavily planting with coastal species whose roots will in time help to prevent erosion. As the plants establish, we ask that users of the space do not walk through the foreshore dune system and embankment as this may damage the new embankment and plantings.

Somerset Long Bay East provides vital habitat for migratory and local birds. With the bird hide, dock and educational signage it makes for a true gem within Bermuda’s emerald necklace. 

Green Buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus), Seaside Goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens) and Beach Lobelia (Scaevola plumeria) freshly planted amongst biodegradable matting that should help reduce the likelihood of glass finding its way to the beach while things get established.

Sea Oxeye (Borrichia arborescens), Tassel Plant (Suriana maritima), Iodine Bush (Mallotonia gnaphalodes) and Bay Bean (Canavalia rosea) are just some of the plants that should take root quickly and help stabilize the embankment.

Thanks to the continued support of Appleby Global, the many individuals who joined one of our volunteer days and the End-to-End Charitable Trust grant we received last year, we have recently stepped up our efforts at Sherwin Nature Reserve. This lovely reserve includes Warwick Pond and the adjacent woodland north and south of the Railway Trail. We developed a conservation management plan, then focused attention on the railway trail area, which has seen more than 18 truckloads of domestic, industrial, and illegally dumped horticultural waste removed already. 

Agapanthus and Dock Bush (Baccharis glomeruliflora) lining the railway trail at Sherwin Nature Reserve South in Warwick.

The cleanup has made a BIG difference to the site but it’s the future I get excited about, as we have started planting a forest of native and endemic species in great quantity and diversity. First we had to remove invasive species, especially large Ficus and Fiddlewood. We turned much of the horticultural material into mulch to increase biomass, maintain good moisture levels in the soil and reduce the ability for invasive species to recolonize the space.

The Railway Trail in this area is now bordered by an amazing show of Bermuda’s natives and a collection of flowering bulbs and shrubs that seem to provide much joy for those that use this section of the trail.

We have also planted an allée of Palmettos along Middle Road, which will take some time to develop, but are sure to look stunning when the trunks mature and the invasives that flank the pond are managed. We have also planted flowering bulbs along the sidewalk to bring a little colour to everyone’s spring days.

We must not forget to thank our kind volunteer neighbour from Olive Bank condominiums who picks up litter weekly. There’s no doubt it takes a village to preserve and protect our cultural and natural heritage. I encourage you to take a walk along the trail and stop by the reserve. It’s certainly worthy of celebration as another example of the Trust creating community partnerships to sustain and better our open spaces for everyone, forever.

Our most recent invasive clearing and planting efforts are quickly moving us closer to the native and endemic stronghold.

The planting we did last year is really starting to take off now. We’re focused on the big picture, planting diverse communities of plants to create dynamic habitats. Great to see Jamaican Vervain (Strachytarpheta jamaicensis) and St. Andrew's Cross (Hypericum hypericoides) amongst Jamaican Dogwood (Dodonaea viscosa) and our iconic Cedar (Juniperus bermudiana) thriving.

Please remember that the Trust museums are your museums! We invite you to check our online museum hours and plan a visit this summer with your family and friends. And we welcome your feedback on your museum experiences which we are working hard to improve for everyone. Come discover the stories, collections and places that hold heritage meaning for us all!

We are creating local jobs at our museums by hiring two part-time operators this summer for our two museums in the heart of the World Heritage Site, and are currently assessing those applications. We are also looking for volunteers to cover additional hours at Globe and Tucker House in St. George’s, and for volunteers most days at Verdmont in Smith’s. Please contact me on charlotte.andrews@bnt.bm or 236-6483 if you are interested in volunteering.

Globe, Tucker House, and Verdmont museums.

Dr. Michael Jarvis of the University of Rochester and a talented team of young archaeologists, archaeology students, and local volunteers have returned for yet another season of the Smith’s Island Archaeology Project (SIAP).



Dr. Jarvis recently announced that the SIAP has been awarded a two-year US National Endowment for the Humanities Archaeology and Ethnography Fieldwork grant to support excavations in the summers of 2023 and 2024, as well as close collaboration with Jamestown Rediscovery/Historic Jamestowne and with Bermudian geneticist Dr. Carika Weldon and her team at Carigenetics. Dr. Jarvis shared “With this grant we can take Bermuda archaeology to the next level as we help BNT build a 21st-century lab facility, conduct additional ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys, and embark on new zooarchaeological and ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis of SIAP site material.”

SIAP welcomes adult volunteers to this summer's field excavations out at Smith’s Island and lab work at Globe Museum in St. George’s now through June 28. Interested volunteer participants under the age of 18 are also welcome if accompanied by parents or guardians. If you are interested, please contact Dr. Jarvis via WhatsApp on 585-485-9870 or email michael.jarvis@rochester.edu. And follow the SIAP team’s progress at their blog.

Many of the 2023 SIAP team

BNT is proud to lend collections to Government House for their public spaces, which are seen by many people during special occasions and different events held there year-round.

We recently assessed the loans with the permission of the Governor, accompanied by her husband Jacob Hawkins. Private Secretary Tanya Davis and Aide-de-camp Lieutenant Christopher Matvey, also provided the collections tour and ensure their on-site care.

Other loans from the Trust (pictured) include:

• Silver commemorating John Harvey Darrell dating to 1872 and the Bermuda cedar serving table on which it is displayed.
• A Bermuda cedar tallboy stands proudly, a chest-on-chest example that furniture experts often ask to see.
• An elaborate shell table created by Lady Gascoigne, wife of Major-General Sir Julian Gascoigne, who served as Governor of Bermuda from 1959 to 1964.
• A mahogany pedestal partner’s desk with leather top in the Governor’s office, which oral history attests was used by Charles Dickens in his publishing office circa 1850.

Teucer House,

3 Cedar Avenue, Pembroke

This is part of a series of architectural articles by the Bermuda National Trust that will highlight some of Bermuda’s endangered historic buildings.

An early photograph of Teucer House when it was a private residence. Courtesy of the National Museum of Bermuda.

Teucer House is located on the northwest portion of the eight-acre Dellwood property. Owned by Captain William Smith and his sister Mary this estate was not included in the lands purchased for the new town of Hamilton that was incorporated in 1793. It remains today outside the City of Hamilton boundary. The old house Dellwood is now part of the school campus.

Teucer House was built around 1903 by Cecil Hamilton Tucker whose parents and sisters lived at Dellwood. In the early 20^th century Cedar Avenue was one of the prettiest streets in Bermuda and therefore a prestigious address. With its grand proportions, spacious verandahs, five bedrooms, two bathrooms, two large reception rooms and a library, Teucer House was an impressive residence. 

Read the full article.

Tour and Volunteer Morning: Eve's Pond, Hamilton Parish

Saturday, 10 June

9:00 am - 9:45 am Tour

10:00 am - 12:00 pm Volunteer session

Click here to sign up

Annual General Meeting & Annual Awards Ceremony

Thursday, 15 June, 5:30 pm

at Verdmont

Click here to register

Museums' Opening Hours

Click here to view our museums' opening hours

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